To truly understand Open Content and the accompanying legalities, it is necessary to have some basic knowledge of how licensing works. "Copyleft" and "Creative Commons" are important terms to know. Copyleft According to Wikipedia, "Copyleft is a play on the word copyright to describe the practice of using copyright law to offer the right to distribute copies and modified versions of a work and requiring that the same rights be preserved in modified versions of the work. In other words, copyleft is a general method for making a program (or other work) free, and requiring all modified and extended versions of the program to be free as well." This allows authors to create information, and offer it to the public for free, with some requirements attached. Basically, other users are welcome to use the information, modify it, etc. However, anything they create with the information, must also remain free to the public. A user cannot take the information, modify it, and then try to sell it. (5) Notes:
To read another explanation of "copyleft", and learn about the GNU project, please click here.
The below image is in the public domain, and is the symbol for "copyleft". It is a mirror image of the "copyright" symbol. "Copyright" has legal meaning, this image does not.
File:Copyleft.svg
Creative Commons Creative Commons allows authors to publish their works with specific licenses. There are four main parts to Creative Commons, Attribution, NonCommercial, ShareAlike, and No Derivatives. For example, an author can choose to publish his/her work with the rule that it can be freely distributed and modifed, but that credit must always be given to the original author. This is refered to as Attribution. A Noncommercial license allows users to freely distribute and modify a work in basically any noncommercial way. ShareAlike allows users to copy and modify an authors work, but he/she must maintian the same sharing terms as the original author. He/She can't, for example, take the authors work, which allows modification, modify it, and then license it under creative commons as No Derivatives. No Derivatives allows users to freely copy and share a work, but only in its original form. (6) A work licensesed in the Creative Commons can have one or more of the four requirementes listed above. In addition, any of the four can be changed with the author's permission. For example, if a piece is labeled No Derivatives, it is possible to modify it legally, with the permission of the author. (6) Notes:
For more information about Creative Commons, click here
The below image is in the public domain, and is the symbol for "Creative Commons".
cc
Please see the below video, "Wanna Work Together?" for another explanation of Creative Commons. (7)
The following video is titled, "A Shared Culture". It describes how Creative Commons helps people to share information, but still maintain some control over their work. (8)
To truly understand Open Content and the accompanying legalities, it is necessary to have some basic knowledge of how licensing works. "Copyleft" and "Creative Commons" are important terms to know.
Copyleft
According to Wikipedia, "Copyleft is a play on the word copyright to describe the practice of using copyright law to offer the right to distribute copies and modified versions of a work and requiring that the same rights be preserved in modified versions of the work. In other words, copyleft is a general method for making a program (or other work) free, and requiring all modified and extended versions of the program to be free as well." This allows authors to create information, and offer it to the public for free, with some requirements attached. Basically, other users are welcome to use the information, modify it, etc. However, anything they create with the information, must also remain free to the public. A user cannot take the information, modify it, and then try to sell it. (5)
Notes:
Creative Commons allows authors to publish their works with specific licenses. There are four main parts to Creative Commons, Attribution, NonCommercial, ShareAlike, and No Derivatives. For example, an author can choose to publish his/her work with the rule that it can be freely distributed and modifed, but that credit must always be given to the original author. This is refered to as Attribution. A Noncommercial license allows users to freely distribute and modify a work in basically any noncommercial way. ShareAlike allows users to copy and modify an authors work, but he/she must maintian the same sharing terms as the original author. He/She can't, for example, take the authors work, which allows modification, modify it, and then license it under creative commons as No Derivatives. No Derivatives allows users to freely copy and share a work, but only in its original form. (6)
A work licensesed in the Creative Commons can have one or more of the four requirementes listed above. In addition, any of the four can be changed with the author's permission. For example, if a piece is labeled No Derivatives, it is possible to modify it legally, with the permission of the author. (6)
Notes:
Please see the below video, "Wanna Work Together?" for another explanation of Creative Commons. (7)
The following video is titled, "A Shared Culture". It describes how Creative Commons helps people to share information, but still maintain some control over their work. (8)